Tools

This tense police procedural (2002), shot in 'Scope by veteran director Kang Woo-suk, is a good example of the inventive genre work currently coming out of South Korea. Sol Gyung-goo stars as a rumpled and recalcitrant cop who started on the force as an inspector but has since been demoted twice. During a nighttime stakeout he encounters a hooded figure who slashes his face; a week later, after an elderly couple have been murdered, he becomes convinced that their killer and his assailant are the same person: the couple's wealthy and dispassionate stockbroker son. Kang combines low-brow comedy with elements of the crime thriller and buddy picture, reinvigorating such familiar themes as the class disparity between cop and killer as well as their shared rage. In Korean with subtitles. 128 min.
ByJoshua Katzman